Harry and Christian disappeared down the hall.
“What’s going on?”
Reynard shrugged. “You’ll see in just a minute. Goblins and their toys, right, Bran?”
“I prefer the term tools to toys,” Bran replied.
The two goblins reappeared with large satchels full of metal armor. Unlike the armor on the goblins I’d seen earlier, this was smooth and silvery, more like something out of a movie about King Arthur.
Aiding each other, all of them were into the armor quickly, the air full of the sounds of ringing metal and buckles.
Christian hefted a huge ax and grinned.
I couldn't help but stare at them all.
Reynard noticed and grinned. "What? You think we go around looking like this all the time?"
I shook my head. "No, I just didn't know you had weapons and armor like that."
"They do. Me, I prefer subtlety.” He waggled his eyebrows at me as he slipped a knife up his sleeve. Then another into his boot. Then another, and another… Hopefully we wouldn’t go near any metal detectors.
“We have to be prepared for anything." Reynard strapped a light, thin sword to his belt, and it vanished.
Looking up again, the armor and weapons had vanished from sight on the goblins, too. All of them looked terribly human and innocent- Harry was wearing a t-shirt with a fluffy kitten on it. I nodded, belatedly realizing they were glamoured, then looked at Bran. "Are you ready?"
After he nodded, I gave the whole group of warriors a severe look. "No mass murder. We run, if possible. We avoid any bloodshed. Words are our first best option."
Christian looked at Bran in dismay. "No fighting?"
"Only as a last resort." Bran's expression brooked no argument, and my heart swelled to hear him doing things my way. This was the right decision, even if it was a dangerous one.
We arrived at the park minutes early and I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves. The sun was close to the horizon, and it had cooled enough to be bearable. The park consisted of an expanse of grass, dotted with a few young trees, near the reservoir. The famous Hollywood sign looked down on us from a distance.
Eldora was easy to spot, this time wearing a brilliant red sundress and hat. She sat at a picnic table near the children's play area. An outdoor yoga class was in full swing perhaps a hundred feet away from her.
Now that I saw all the families here, maybe this was the worst place to meet. If the goblins who opposed Bran attacked, how many children might be hurt? "Let's make this quick," I muttered, then strode toward the woman who'd been stealing my magic for years.
"Andromeda," Eldora said as she approached. "Thank you for coming." She nodded at my goblin entourage.
"What do you want?" I asked, not bothering with pleasantries. "Why are we here?"
"There's much you don't know." She looked at Bran. "Even you."
"Enlighten us." I sat across from her on one of the benches, trying to project an air of calm I didn't feel.
"I'm sure you're aware that the monsters were banished to Dream a long time ago."
I nodded. "What does that have to do with you?"
"The monsters want to come back to Earth," she nodded toward Bran. "That you know. What you don't know is that the guild is extremely divided about whether or not to let them come back."
"One, What, exactly, is the guild. Two. I don't think it's a matter of ‘let’," I said. "They're coming."
Eldora nodded. "On that, we agree. For the other, the guild is an organization of like minded people who’ve protected humanity from monsters since before they were banished to Dream."
I bristled. I didn't want to agree with her about anything. I wanted to throw a fireball at her. The thought of a bunch of people like her worried me. "What do you want?"
"I want to help them come back, though I'm a bit in the minority. The guild members in favor are slightly outvoted by the members against."
